So speaking of steel and complicated tie-ins... there are now some ginormous columns marking the eastern edge of the building, along Vanderbilt Ave. opposite Grand Central. Notice the angled joints at the top. The installation of these was documented in a series of YouTube videos by GaddahRa yesterday.

There are what appear to be footings waiting to accept similar columns along the south side, here (looks like from the renderings the south wall of the building is going to be pretty close to 42nd St.):

At the western side (Madison Avenue), at the northwest corner, there's a column marked 23.5 tons that would appear to line up with the northeastern column along Vanderbilt (just in front of the "No Smoking" sign):

My question is, why wouldn't the size of that column (at the left side of the photo) be of a similar size to what's at the northeast corner (seems less than half the mass)? Unless... some larger ones are destined to be installed along that western wall. Also -- it's hard to see exactly where similarly sized columns along the northern wall will go. Gotta be accounted for there somewhere!

That shot also shows the red base of the second tower crane being assembled, with the components still being in several locations around the site.

If only Philadelphia had built the American Commerce Center back in 2010 as opposed to the monstrosity known as the Comcast Information and Technology Center, we would've had the second largest building in America.

This is one of the things I love about NYC: the fact that NYC can continue to evolve as a world class city while Philadelphia continues to stagnate due to its very parochial and short sighted thinking. If One Vanderbilt was proposed somewhere in Center City, NIMBYs would all of a sudden come out the woodworks to either oppose the tower or to have it shortened.

I wouldn't be surprised if San Francisco, Miami, Boston, or even Atlanta or Houston propose a tower taller than the one that Philly is currently constructing. And to think that the ACC wouldn't not just been the tallest in America, but Philly could've had a TD Bank, GSK, or GE as its headquarters!

If only Philadelphia had built the American Commerce Center back in 2010 as opposed to the monstrosity known as the Comcast Information and Technology Center, we would've had the second largest building in America.

This is one of the things I love about NYC: the fact that NYC can continue to evolve as a world class city while Philadelphia continues to stagnate due to its very parochial and short sighted thinking. If One Vanderbilt was proposed somewhere in Center City, NIMBYs would all of a sudden come out the woodworks to either oppose the tower or to have it shortened.

I wouldn't be surprised if San Francisco, Miami, Boston, or even Atlanta or Houston propose a tower taller than the one that Philly is currently constructing. And to think that the ACC wouldn't not just been the tallest in America, but Philly could've had a TD Bank, GSK, or GE as its headquarters!

Even we have our fair share of NIMBYs in New York. I don't understand how somebody can be a NIMBY and live in a place like New York City, but they do exist here. Even in areas like Midtown Manhattan.

^ New York is the king of NIMBYism, and even the rezoning for Midtown East was put off because of pandering and nimbyism. This tower got approved before the rest of the district because a slice of the rezoning had to be cut off to get this important development underway.

But it's rising now, no turning back! And other buildings will follow thanks to the rezoning.

The first steel columns/beams of One Vanderbilt are now above street level. A second crane is also being erected. The 59-floor, 1,401-foot tall skyscraper rising across from Grand Central will be the the 3rd tallest office building in the Western Hemisphere. The tower is set for completion in 2020 and is being developed by Hines / SL Green and designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox.

__________________NEW YORK. World's capital.

“Office buildings are our factories – whether for tech, creative or traditional industries we must continue to grow our modern factories to create new jobs,” said United States Senator Chuck Schumer.

American Commerce Center was an ugly design (CITC is better) and was not derailed by parochial and short sighted thinking (though such thinking does exist in Philly). 2010 was the height of the recession and there were no foreseeable anchor tenants. Or other sizable tenants. Developers and investors don't pursue 1500 foot tall spec office buildings. For the most part, this holds true even in New York where the economics and tenant viability are far different. It's exactly why there's been such a long delay on 2 WTC. To further the point, you have it backwards. This is the real world. Not the Field of Dreams. They won't come just because you build it. New York does not get corporate headquarters for the likes of TD Bank, GSK (in fact headquartered in the Philly Navy Yard), or GE BECAUSE it builds a tower like this. New York CAN build towers like this because it is an established international power city and lands those kind of tenants. When Philly gets another sizable anchor tenant to commit, it will build another supertall. Philly is working on changes to the tax code and corporate culture to become more attractive to business and is doing better than ever on that front. When we achieve these goals, more tall buildings will follow.

One Vanderbilt is looking good! Looking forward to seeing it rise.

Quote:

Originally Posted by wanderer34

If only Philadelphia had built the American Commerce Center back in 2010 as opposed to the monstrosity known as the Comcast Information and Technology Center, we would've had the second largest building in America.

This is one of the things I love about NYC: the fact that NYC can continue to evolve as a world class city while Philadelphia continues to stagnate due to its very parochial and short sighted thinking. If One Vanderbilt was proposed somewhere in Center City, NIMBYs would all of a sudden come out the woodworks to either oppose the tower or to have it shortened.

I wouldn't be surprised if San Francisco, Miami, Boston, or even Atlanta or Houston propose a tower taller than the one that Philly is currently constructing. And to think that the ACC wouldn't not just been the tallest in America, but Philly could've had a TD Bank, GSK, or GE as its headquarters!

^ New York is the king of NIMBYism, and even the rezoning for Midtown East was put off because of pandering and nimbyism. This tower got approved before the rest of the district because a slice of the rezoning had to be cut off to get this important development underway.

Obviously when you have that kind of density, you'll have a lot of NIMBY. No way it's the king of nimbies though. Look at San Fran, where anything tall is extremely hard to build outside of a few plots of designated land. And of course historic cities in Europe where tall towers are a big no no and developers don't even bother proposing them for fear of NIMBY backlash. NY has it easy in comparison. Plenty of places to build up in NY without much nimby interference. You don't even have to have a review for most development projects like most cities do as you can build As of Right.

American Commerce Center was an ugly design (CITC is better) and was not derailed by parochial and short sighted thinking (though such thinking does exist in Philly). 2010 was the height of the recession and there were no foreseeable anchor tenants. Or other sizable tenants. Developers and investors don't pursue 1500 foot tall spec office buildings. For the most part, this holds true even in New York where the economics and tenant viability are far different. It's exactly why there's been such a long delay on 2 WTC. To further the point, you have it backwards. This is the real world. Not the Field of Dreams. They won't come just because you build it. New York does not get corporate headquarters for the likes of TD Bank, GSK (in fact headquartered in the Philly Navy Yard), or GE BECAUSE it builds a tower like this. New York CAN build towers like this because it is an established international power city and lands those kind of tenants. When Philly gets another sizable anchor tenant to commit, it will build another supertall. Philly is working on changes to the tax code and corporate culture to become more attractive to business and is doing better than ever on that front. When we achieve these goals, more tall buildings will follow.

One Vanderbilt is looking good! Looking forward to seeing it rise.

I prefer the old Philly design. Honestly the new one does nothing for me at all.

Obviously when you have that kind of density, you'll have a lot of NIMBY. No way it's the king of nimbies though. Look at San Fran, where anything tall is extremely hard to build outside of a few plots of designated land.

I say New York is the king of NIMBYs for exactly the reasons you state. It's a city where large skyscrapers exists in large numbers, and people are still outraged that they can be built. At least in other places the NIMBYs have somewhat of an argument. Here, they are just absurd.

__________________NEW YORK. World's capital.

“Office buildings are our factories – whether for tech, creative or traditional industries we must continue to grow our modern factories to create new jobs,” said United States Senator Chuck Schumer.

This feels like a whole different universe from Hudson Yards or 57th Street. That's because it takes on a very significant role for this part of Manhattan. It almost feels like the only skyscraper in town going up.

I prefer the old Philly design. Honestly the new one does nothing for me at all.

I think they're both fairly mediocre. I like One Vanderbilt much better than either. It's still not stunning like the residential skyscrapers going up (Steinway and Verre), but it's a powerful and impressive beast and hugely significant for this area and ushering in a new era of commercial skyscrapers.

Soo, pretty sure this may be the first look at One Vanderbilt's facade! The image/message, provided below, was posted to Instagram last week by @one_vanderbilt, the project's official account.

@one_vanderbilt:

Quote:

Window-gazing at the mock up of the #OneVanderbilt facade. Evoking the iconic terra-cotta tiles used in @grandcentralnyc, diagonal spandrels of terra-cotta will be placed throughout the skyscraper's curtain wall with a concentration at the base, designed to interplay with the Beaux Arts landmark.

My apologies! Took another look at the mockup pic, anyone else notice the panel's awkward/disjointed connection at the inside corners? Thinking this may be a result of to the tower's angled-facade; posing some design/fabrication challenges. Whatever the reason, one would think a more subtle pattern/texture for the terracotta would draw less attention to the issue.

Also, I wonder if KPF's decision to go with terracotta here was influenced at all by SHoP's widely celebrated terracotta design for 111 West 57th St (Steinway Tower). Just a thought...